Health News
Welcome to Health News, Notes and Quotes. We have selected the following categories and news items below because I believe they can help educate you about the importance of good health and the benefits of chiropractic.
Articles
Chiropractic Care
Parts of the Whole
Chiropractors certainly are known for treating the spine – but keep in mind that the nerves of the spine extend to every tissue of the body, including the arms, hands, legs and feet. The chiropractic philosophy of care focuses on how different parts of the body fit together as a whole. In other words, chiropractors don’t just look at your knee if you come in with knee pain. Believe it or not, all of your body parts and systems function in harmony with one another. Pain in one area does not necessarily mean that the problem is located in the same place.
Sometimes, the source of the pain is, in fact, coming directly from your lower back. Often, however, the cause of the pain, or a large contributing factor to it, comes from your lower extremities and feet. Most people do not realize their feet have three springy arches that help support the weight of their entire bodies. Whether it’s due to genetics, heavy weight-bearing activities or bad shoes, to name a few, these arches can fall down over time. This makes your feet unable to support the weight of the body correctly, causing them to start rolling inward. This is called overpronation, and it’s a fairly common condition, especially for runners. You may be surprised to know that 80 percent of people are overpronators. Your chiropractor can adjust your feet and other affected joints, and can recommend treatments that help support all three arches of the foot.
Analyzing your feet is an important part of whole-body wellness. As chiropractors, we want to keep our patients feeling great, but the adjustments are just a part of the entire health package. Diet, exercise, healthy work and life habits, proper shoes, and suggestions on pillows and beds also come into play. We can use many other tools, combined with spinal adjustments, to tailor a specific chiropractic treatment plan to meet your needs.
Nutrition & Herbs
It’s All in the Preparation
If you’re anything like the roughly 70 percent of Americans who are not meeting their recommended fruit and veggie goals, you aren’t reaping all the benefits these miracle foods have to offer. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nutrients in fruits and vegetables are, for the most part, kept intact during canning or freezing, meaning that fresh, frozen or canned versions of the same food have relatively equal nutrient profiles.
An analysis of canned, fresh, and frozen fruits and vegetables, conducted in 1995 by the University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, confirmed encouraging findings about canned foods, including the following:
- Fiber content is as high in canned products as in their fresh counterparts.
- Folate (folic acid, an essential B vitamin), vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, thiamin and carotenoids all hold up well during canning. In some cases (pumpkins, for example), vitamin A levels are actually higher in the canned versus fresh product. Some analyses also show that the nutrient value of lycopene is increased when consumed after it is heated or canned.
- The nutrient value of meats and other proteins also are unaltered by the canning process.
- The canning process actually may increase calcium levels in fish as compared to the freshly cooked variety.
What it really boils down to is that while raw is ideal, canned and frozen vegetables still provide the fiber and other nutrients that make vegetables good for you in the first place. For anyone on-the-go, particularly busy parents trying to ensure their children eat right, that's comforting news. Just remember, it's all in the preparation.
Pediatric Health
The Backpack Dilemma
You can’t tell your children not to bring their textbooks to and from school – but what if the consequence of a consistently overloaded backpack is neck, back and shoulder pain? Chiropractors, pediatricians and orthopedic surgeons all agree that backpacks are a problem for a child's spine.
While health care professionals do not agree on the exact weight, the consensus is that a child burdened with more than 10 percent of their body weight risks back and neck pain. The majority of health care professionals agree that a child carrying 15 percent or more of their body weight can suffer from severe back, neck and shoulder pain, headaches, and other spinal discomfort; not to mention aggravate pre-existing spinal conditions such as scoliosis.
The first priority in purchasing a backpack is to select function over fashion. Here are a few criteria to consider when choosing a better functional backpack:
- The backpack should fit properly (not too long or too short).
- It should have wide, padded, adjustable straps (for proper positioning on the back).
- A backpack with a hip strap or lumbar pillow provides additional protection. The hip strap, when used, can distribute a portion of the weight to the hips, easing the load on the spine and shoulders. The use of a lumbar pillow will provide the necessary back support to the lumbar region, where the greatest portion of weight is being carried.
A backpack stuffed with that "extra" book, binder, electronic device or water bottle can easily add an unnecessary 10 pounds. Parents need to show their children the importance of loading and carrying their backpacks appropriately. The heaviest items should rest against the back, which means loading them first and attempting to distribute the weight evenly.
So remember, with the current school year coming to a close and a new one just months away, remember that when it comes to choosing a backpack, think function before fashion. Your child’s health depends on it.